# What is the Secret Service's duty/obligation towards Trump? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2021, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603 "2021-01-04T00:45:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GreaterZamboni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@GreaterZamboni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreaterZamboni)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/1 "2021-01-04T00:45:02Z")
I did not know where to put this question so if the Mods deem it necessary to move it, please do so. My question is, what are the Secret Service agents with Trump to do if he attempts to flee the country? Can they only arrest him on US soil, or in US Airspace? Can they arrest him in Saudi or Russia? I assume that should Trump attempt to take his own life or someone else’s they will do their level best to intervene and stop him ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/2 "2021-01-04T00:54:02Z")
I suppose if they find him counterfeiting money, they can arrest him for that. But their job in this context is to protect the president. It is up to other authorities to arrest him. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/3 "2021-01-04T00:58:49Z")
Protect him from himself? On January 19, if Trump seemed despondent, and demanded an agent give him his gun, would the agent be obliged to hand it over? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/4 "2021-01-04T01:02:16Z")
What RealityCheck said. If Trump suddenly leaves the country after Biden Is sworn in, the Secret Service wouldn’t be likely to have the right kind of passport and visa. I’d think they would decline to accompany. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/5 "2021-01-04T01:04:25Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > On January 19, if Trump seemed despondent, and demanded an agent give him his gun, would the agent be obliged to hand it over? No.Their job is the protect, not to do whatever DJT says. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/6 "2021-01-04T01:06:31Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > No.Their job is the protect, not to do whatever DJT says. Makes sense. So I guess on January 20, their job will be to get him out of the Whitehouse with a minimum amount of fuss and bother, if he wants to or not “for his protection” (If he’s still there. I have heard about plans to fly overseas on the 19th). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/7 "2021-01-04T02:37:38Z")
> [@GreaterZamboni](#): > > My question is, what are the Secret Service agents with Trump to do if he attempts to flee the country? Can they only arrest him on US soil, or in US Airspace? Can they arrest him in Saudi or Russia? Trump is not (at present) charged with any crimes, so there are no grounds to arrest him (by anyone). It is perfectly legal for him to leave the country. He can go to Saudi Arabia or Russia or anywhere else that is willing to admit him. Even if there were a warrant for his arrest, it would not be the job of the Secret Service to do so. If Trump were to refuse to leave the White House after noon on Jan. 20, he could be arrested as a trespasser. But that could be done by White House security, not necessarily the Secret Service. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/8 "2021-01-04T02:58:37Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > If Trump were to refuse to leave the White House after noon on Jan. 20, he could be arrested as a trespasser. But that could be done by White House security, not necessarily the Secret Service. “White House security” is the White House Police Force, which is the Uniformed Division of…the Secret Service. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/9 "2021-01-04T03:04:32Z")
I think the assumption that they can only protect the president is a little naive. He has state secrets. He would compromise national security if he fell into the hands of our enemies. Whether they try to kidnap him, or whether he facilitates it himself. Now, obviously, “keep the president from selling out his country” would not make the brochure for the jobs of the secret service. It’s not good PR, and in normal circumstances, that’s a weird and unnecessary thought to bring up. But we’ve never had a president before that was a foreign agent or who was at risk for selling state secrets, so it has been sort of a moot point. But I suspect the secret service has a duty to intervene if they suspect the president intends to betray national security. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/10 "2021-01-04T03:34:05Z")
I don’t know. [18 U.S. Code § 3056](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3056) (" Powers, authorities, and duties of United States Secret Service") and [18 U.S. Code § 3056A](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3056A) (" Powers, authorities, and duties of United States Secret Service Uniformed Division") both include language authorizing Secret Service agents and Uniformed Division officers to > [@](#): > > make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony But I suspect that’s to some extent “boilerplate” for “these guys are federal law enforcement officers, and have all the normal authorities and duties of federal LEO’s”. There’s certainly nothing in there explicitly authorizing the Secret Service to “keep an eye on the POTUS and make sure he doesn’t commit treason or any other crimes against the United States”. While I am by no means an expert on the Secret Service, I do suspect that the agency has a pretty deeply rooted culture of not interfering with the official duties or personal affairs of the POTUS. Under any normal circumstances, and with any even half-way normal President, that’s probably necessary and proper–we don’t want Presidents constantly trying to “shake” their own protective detail so they can go browbeat and/or cajole Senator Bedfellow about that budget bill; or smoke a cigarette without the First Lady hearing about it; or even bang their mistresses. That means Presidents have to trust “their” Secret Service guys will be discreet and (in some sense) “loyal”. And we really, really don’t want some kind of Praetorian Guard passing judgement on the duly elected President of the United States. Trump has shattered and continues to shatter all norms of conduct that we reasonably expect a President of the United States to follow. But I don’t know that the Secret Service will have been able to change their whole bureaucratic culture in a mere four years to keep up with that. Given that Joe Biden will be our President in just a few weeks, I’m not really sure it would even be a Good Thing for them to have changed their whole bureaucratic culture to somehow accommodate the idea of a person like Trump in the White House. Because we absolutely must never, _ever_ have a person like Trump in the White House ever again. But I wouldn’t count on the Secret Service being the ones to somehow rein in ex-President Trump if he decides to defect to Russia or something bizarre like that. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/11 "2021-01-04T03:41:47Z")
Oops, I didn’t notice this is in General Questions. I apologize for the political opinions in my above post. But, to re-iterate the “GQ” parts: The Secret Service does have the authority and the duty to > [@](#): > > make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony But I suspect the agency also has a pretty deeply-rooted culture of not interfering in the official or personal affairs of its protectees that would make Secret Service agents and officers very reluctant to actually arrest a former POTUS under anything but the most extraordinary of circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/12 "2021-01-04T20:38:59Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > actually arrest a former POTUS under anything but the most extraordinary of circumstances. And those are exactly the sorts of circumstances under consideration here. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/13 "2021-01-04T20:50:18Z")
If Trump skips off to Russia pre or post Inauguration, will the Agents assigned to him for protection be required to go along for the ride, or will he lose his ex-Prez protection? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/14 "2021-01-04T21:05:23Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > I suspect the agency also has a pretty deeply-rooted culture of not interfering in the official or personal affairs of its protectees that would make Secret Service agents and officers very reluctant to actually arrest a former POTUS under anything but the most extraordinary of circumstances. I realize fiction is not reality, but in _Executive Orders_, Tom Clancy’s portrayal of the Secret Service was not only that the Service didn’t raise an eyebrow at the president having an extramarital affair, but that they actually considered it a good thing since it reduced his mental stress, and whatever relaxes the Commander in Chief’s brain is generally good for the nation/world. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/15 "2021-01-04T21:12:24Z")
Sorry, too late to edit - I think it was _The Sum of All Fears._ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/16 "2021-01-04T21:12:47Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If Trump skips off to Russia pre or post Inauguration, will the Agents assigned to him for protection be required to go along for the ride, or will he lose his ex-Prez protection? Former presidents and their spouses are entitled to lifetime Secret Service protection. As far as I know, there is no reason for that protection not to be continued when an ex-president leaves the country, for whatever reason. It is legal for Trump to travel to Russia as long as that country agrees to admit him. On what basis would he lose protection? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/17 "2021-01-04T21:42:45Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > On what basis would he lose protection? Perhaps on the basis of the Russians not letting them in, or the basis of charges being brought against Trump and the Russians not extraditing him? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/18 "2021-01-04T22:04:50Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Perhaps on the basis of the Russians not letting them in, If the Russians allow Trump in, but not his Secret Service detail, that pretty much amounts to Trump voluntarily giving up their protection, not “losing” it. > [@](#): > > or the basis of charges being brought against Trump and the Russians not extraditing him? Withdrawing Secret Service protection in such a case would probably require some kind of law being passed. As I said, the law provides protection to ex-presidents and there is no provision for automatically removing it in the case of legal charges. But at this point you are asking speculative questions that don’t really have a GQ answer. Since such cases have no precedent, it’s impossible to say exactly what would happen. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/19 "2021-01-04T22:05:27Z")
Fair enough. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603/20 "2021-01-04T22:10:50Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I think the assumption that they can only protect the president is a little naive. He has state secrets. He would compromise national security if he fell into the hands of our enemies. Whether they try to kidnap him, or whether he facilitates it himself. > > Now, obviously, “keep the president from selling out his country” would not make the brochure for the jobs of the secret service. It’s not good PR, and in normal circumstances, that’s a weird and unnecessary thought to bring up. > > But we’ve never had a president before that was a foreign agent or who was at risk for selling state secrets, so it has been sort of a moot point. But I suspect the secret service has a duty to intervene if they suspect the president intends to betray national security. This has come up repeatedly, in other threads, in somewhat different contexts. Under U.S. law, the President has sole and nearly absolute discretion to classify and declassify information and to grant access to it. Presidents don’t have security clearances - the concept would be utterly meaningless with regards to a President. Presidents don’t sign Non-Disclosure Agreements. As bizarre as it may seem, and as unpleasant as the prospect may be, Donald Trump is free to tell the Russians or anyone else whatever he wants to about any “state secrets”. Short of giving aid and comfort to an enemy nation (and we’re not at war - Russia is not legally an enemy nation), as a legal matter, a President or former President pretty much _can’t_ “betray national security”, by definition. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-secret-services-duty-obligation-towards-trump/929603.md?page=2)